


Taken.

by NavyInk



Series: My Own Characters [2]
Category: Own Character - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, All of them are oc’s, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon poly relationship, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, HEALTHY poly relationship, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Insomnia medication, I’ll add more characters when other characters are mentioned and developed more, Kidnapping, Mentions of alcohol, Multi, Never heavily described, None of them canon, Not Beta Read, Psychological Manipulation, Psychological Torture, Threats of Violence, Violence, descriptions of violence, happy couple, healthy couple, kidnap, low-key (or maybe not)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NavyInk/pseuds/NavyInk
Summary: Recovery isn’t an easy road, and Alyssa is learning that the hard way. She isn’t over her trauma, but she’s trying to work through it and it’s not easy. Hopefully she can do it.
Relationships: Alyssa Shaw/Chad Taylor, Alyssa Shaw/Isabella Bailey Choi, Alyssa Shaw/Misa Miyawaki, Chad Taylor/Isabella Bailey Choi, Chad Taylor/Misa Miyawaki, Misa Miyawaki/Isabella Bailey Choi
Series: My Own Characters [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872577
Kudos: 2





	1. Therapy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her first time in therapy doesn’t go as expected, and we see a glimpse into what happened to her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chad belongs to @wowsheshot. He is her character, but he’s in this as Alyssa and him are dating.

“He said I... reminded him of his sister.” Alyssa began quietly, voice trembling with every word she spoke. “Said... his sister was gone but I was still here, so he wanted to keep me safe so his sister would never die again.” 

—

As she spoke, her eyes widened and her mind hurried back to the first time she saw him. She spent a few hours locked in that room with no one, tugging on the restraints, hoping and praying the locks were rusted enough to break if she just kept tugging. She had... no such luck. 

There were no windows in this room, and only one door, large and metal, bolted to the wall on her left. Instantly, she knew, there was no point in yelling - no one would hear her. She didn’t want to waste her breath. 

After what must’ve been hours, she’d fallen asleep again with her knees tucked into her chest as a safety mechanism. Not a good one but it was all she had. Her eyes were red, and blotchy, still glassy but no longer overflowing with tears; at this point, there may not have been any tears left at all. While the rest of her skin looked pale, maybe from lack of sunlight, her cheeks stood out. They were rosy and stained with tears tracks, still wet in some places. 

But she was awoken when she heard a clang, and a screech of old hinges. She opened her eyes quickly, afraid of what was going on, and saw the door was being opened. 

At that moment, all she could think about was how she was going to die, how whoever was coming in was going to kill her and she’d never see anyone again. Chad. Her brother. Her dad. She’d be gone and they’d never even know what happened to her. There was a heaviness in her chest now, and she could feel every beat her heart made, getting faster and faster, and the knot in her stomach turning faster and faster. She was going to vomit, or maybe pass out. She couldn’t do this, she just... couldn’t. 

No, no, no-

That can’t happen, no, please no-

“Oh good, you’re awake,” a voice drew her out of her thoughts. Partially. “I was wondering when—“

“Don’t kill me!” She yelled. Maybe yelling at who’d kidnapped her wasn’t the best move, and she knew that but her mind was still racing with thoughts she couldn’t control. She just didn’t want to die. “Please, please... just don’t kill me.”

There was silence, a painful silence that felt like it was going to kill Alyssa before this man could. 

Then he chuckled— no, he laughed and there was a sadistic undertone to it, but other than that... it seemed like a genuine laugh. He found Alyssa’s terror, her fear, funny. 

“I’m not going to kill you.” He explained, once he stopped laughing. His voice was calm, too calm. “Or hurt you, actually... the entire reason you’re here is so I can keep you safe.” 

“Safe?! You think this is safe?” Alyssa asked, tugging on the chains violently to prove her point. “You kidnapped me! You hit me over the head and threw me into the trunk of your car. You’re the only one putting me in danger.”

Arguing like this with her kidnapper could’ve been dangerous but if he... wasn’t going to hurt her, why not yell at her. She refused to let this break her completely. 

“Alyssa, we both know something was bound to happen to you. You live in a terrible neighbourhood, and you’ve been heading into even worse ones to drink. Something bad could’ve happened and I made sure it didn’t.” 

“If something bad happened, at least I would’ve had people, had someone! Now I’m just stuck down here with you, alone.”

“Oh, but you’re not alone. You have me.” He took a step forward as he spoke, and Alyssa shuffled back on the bed. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. “Ah, I see you’re still afraid... well, you really don’t need to be. I actually brought you something.” 

Looking at him with confusion, Alyssa rose a brow. She was sceptical, to say the least, and she didn’t trust what he’d brought, but all he did was smile at her (a horrible one) and stepped out of the room. For a moment, she thought he’d left her with the door open, until he came back in holding a tray. On the tray was a large bottle of water, and a plate of food, which despite everything, looked nothing but appealing to her. 

“I cooked you your favourite meal.” He said, as he placed the tray in front of her. “Spaghetti and meatballs, and brought you some water, figured you’d be thirsty.” 

“You haven’t put anything in this, have you? No drugs, no... just nothing?” 

“Of course not. I told you that I wanted you to be safe. Any drugs would fuck with your system and we don’t want that.” 

He hated to admit he was right. 

Cautiously, she took a bite of the food and it was delicious. Everything tasted right. Even if she didn’t want to be here, at least he wasn’t trying to poison her, at least she was eating and could stay strong and had a chance of getting out of here. There was still a bit of hope left. 

She was half way through her meal when she asked, “am I allowed to ask you something?”

“As long as it’s not stupid, yes.” 

“Why me?” She asked, swallowing her food. “Why, out of everyone, did you decide you wanted to protect me... or whatever the fuck you want to call it?”

“It is protection, Alyssa.” He sighed. “And I choice you, because you remind me of somebody very special who was taken far too soon.” 

“But... I still don’t understand,” she pressed, still wanting to know. She had a right too. 

“You remind me of my sister, and my sister was killed doing reckless and stupid things. So I took you to protect you and to have my sister back,” he explained softly, his eyes filling with small tears. “I couldn’t lose you again.”

Alyssa wanted to complain. There was no her to him. She wasn’t his sister, she was never going to be his sister. 

“But you just made other people lose me... you just made my brother lose his sister. Now he’s gonna feel the same way you do so please just... why do you want that?”

“I don’t want that. But I don’t care about him, he’s not my family.” 

“But he is mine!” Alyssa protested, raising her voice again. But once he cast a glare at her, a fierce one that made a shiver run down her spine, she cleared her throat. “Please just— this isn’t fucking protection. None of it is. Take me back to my brother and I won’t even tell anyone this happened.”

“That won’t work, Alyssa, because I know you will. You say you won’t just so I let you go, and you can run to the cops and tell them everything. I’m not stupid, and I’d expect my sister to know better.”

“I’m not your sister though,” she sighed, already exhausted with him. Maybe part of it was the crying before, but she couldn’t live like this. “I don’t know anything about you...” 

“You’ll learn soon though, and you will be my sister. I won’t lose you again, understand?”

Yeah, she did but... she didn’t want to. She wanted none of this. 

“Understand, Alyssa?” His tone was firmer now, stricter. It was uncomfortable to listen to. 

“Yes, yes... I understand.” She nodded her head meekly. “Can I at least... know you’re name? If I’m your sister, I should know that.”

“Glad to see you’re accepting what you’re meant to be. My name is Drew.” 

“Drew it’s...” she trailed off, not knowing whether to lie or to tell the truth about how it was to meet him. Or even to say it at all if she’s meant to be his sister. “I’m really tired... can I get some privacy while I sleep please?”

“You’re tired, but you just slept for sixteen hours.”

“But... what how?!”

“Well, forced you into my trunk and knocked you out, and then when we got here, I gave you a sleeping pill just in case you woke up before I wanted you too. It was something like what you’re boyfriend takes, so don’t worry, nothing incredibly strong.” 

“You... you know that Chad takes pills to sleep?” Alyssa raised an eyebrow, her lips trembling at the thought. How could he know? Had he been spying on them? For how long. “How?”

“Well, I was watching you for a while before I took you. I had to find out if you could be my sister, and you for the role perfectly.” 

“How long did you watch us for?”

“Few months, I think. Three at the most, five or take a week. Which reminds me, did you get a change to turn your English literature essay in?”

“No, I... didn’t finish it. Think I got to a thousand words and now I’m never going to finish it.”

“But you don’t even have to think of it now. My sister didn’t study English literature, so no essays to think about.” 

Normally no essays to think about was nice: it meant she could relax, spend time with Chad without stressing about work or school, but... now it made her feel nauseous. Not finishing the essay, only getting half way through it, never submitting it or hearing what the teacher had to say about it. She didn’t like that. Never before had she craved a normal student life as much as she had in this moment. 

“Alyssa!” He called, louder than he’d spoken to her before. “Are you paying attention?”

“Sorry...” she mumbled, her gaze falling to the ground. “Sorry... this is just a lot to take in and I’m really exhausted. Can I please just... get some proper rest?”

“Fine.” He glanced over to his left (Alyssa’s right), and there was a tall wardrobe and a set of draws. Each of them had been polished to almost perfect, and along each cupboard door and draw, there was a unique carvings of a bunch of flowers. These looked old, precious, maybe even considered antique but he’d preserved them, down here, for her. “There’s clothes in there, pyjamas too. You can change into them to sleep in.”

“But how?” Alyssa tugged on her chains again, a little less violent than last time. 

“I’ll unlock them, but you have to promise not to try to escape. Or I will have to stop you.” There was an undertone to his voice that was... unsettling when he spoke those last words, something unsettling the way he glared at her while saying it. 

“What happened to not wanting me to get hurt?”

“My sister would never try to escape. We were inseparable so if you do that, you’re not my sister in that moment and I will hurt you to get you to stop. Understand?”

Alyssa nodded quickly. She would argue all day that this wasn’t protection but she didn’t want to do anything that would make him hurt her. Every bit of hope would drain out of her if he did. 

“Yes. I understand. No trying to escape.” 

“Okay.” He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a set of keys. New, freshly carved. Slowly, he unlocked her hands and feet, before rushing over to the door and shutting it behind him. He wasn’t taking any chances. 

But Alyssa didn’t even move from the bed for a moment. She just took a moment to rub her wrists and ankles softly, hoping to ease the pain she caused when she was trying to get out. She didn’t have much luck but some of the redness had faded, she just prayed it wouldn’t bruise. 

Carefully, she stood up, her knees feeling weak under the weight of her and everything that’s happened. One step, and she was fine, but another step and she was stumbling, almost falling to the floor but catching herself on the set of draws. 

Pulling herself up to her feet, she took a deep breath in. ‘You can do this, you can do this’ she told herself repeatedly, trying to calm herself more. It worked, a little... more than it would’ve if Drew had tried to say it. 

After a moment of composing herself, she went through a few draws before she found what looked like fluffy pyjamas, and she had no idea what it was going to be like down here during the night so she took them out. 

That’s when it hit her. She had no idea if it was night... she had no idea the time of day it was, and she would have no idea how long she slept for because there was no clock. The outside world was lost to her... almost all of it and that feeling made her want to pass out, more than she wanted to before. 

Sure, maybe she could work out the round about time it was because he’d told her she slept for sixteen hours, but her brain was too fried for that and time would be lost after she slept anyway. No point. 

Quickly, she changed into the pyjamas and climbed into bed, tucking herself under the covers. 

“I’m ready!” She called out, assuming he was still outside. 

He was. 

The door creaked open was more, the hinges letting out an antagonising screech once more. It would’ve made Alyssa cringe but too much was going on for her but even care. 

He took one look at her, before a grin spread across her face. “Perfect.” He whispered too softly for it to be comfortable. “Now, let me just...” he trailed off as he reached over, grabbing the cuffs once more. 

“No... you can’t put them on me again, please. Not while I sleep.” Alyssa protested, glancing up at him from the bed. 

She felt so small compared to him right now, so weak, so insignificant. She hated every minute of it. 

‘Please someone come and save me, please...’ she thought to herself, still gazing pleadingly up at him. 

“Yes on you while you sleep. I don’t trust you enough not to try anything yet. Maybe one day I’ll be able to let you do that if you fully embody my sister.”

“I thought I already was... her.”

“Oh you are, don’t worry. But you don’t embody her enough. You’ll learn, when you learn more about me, and I you, and then you can sleep without these. But for now...” he trailed into a sigh as he linked the cuffs to her wrists, but left her feet unlocked. “You can still reach you water with these on so if you get thirsty while you sleep, you can drink it.” He explained. 

Then, he walked over to the door, flipped the light off, and shut the door, locking it as he did so.

Alyssa closed her eyes. 

—

Alyssa opened her eyes, staring at the therapist across from her. They were glazed over with tears now, and she hadn’t even told the therapist everything she’d just thought about. She left out details, giving as few as she thought she could without the therapist thinking she left out details. There were thing she just couldn’t say that, couldn’t verbalise yet, maybe not even ever, but she couldn’t even tell that to the therapist. If she said any more, she knew she’d end up sobbing, and tears were already threatening to roll down her cheeks. 

“I’m- I’m sorry,” she stuttered out, her gaze falling to the floor. 

“No, no, Alyssa, take your time. People need to go at their own pace talking about things like this so please—“

“No, I mean, I’m sorry, b-but I can’t do this. Not yet, m-maybe not ever... I-I should go. Keep the money, refund the account it was paid from, I... I don’t care just... I can’t be here, I’m...” she didn’t even finish her sentence before she was grabbing her jacket and running out the door. 

It was cold outside but she hardly felt it, she hardly felt anything: the briskness of the air, the harshness of the wind, the pounding heart in her chest was all lost on her. She felt numb. 

But right now, that was better than feeling everything that was building up inside her. Eventually, it would hit her, and she knew that, maybe it would hit her as soon as she got home, but right now numb was the best thing she could be feeling. 

Opening the door to her car, she climbed inside and slammed the door shut. As quick as she could, she started up the engine and began driving. Away from the god damn therapy office, away from that stupid chair, away from the therapist, away from where she’d have to open up about everything. She wasn’t ready and so she wanted to be far away from it. 

But she didn’t want to go home either. Hone... didn’t feel like home right now, and that was more her fault than anything. It just... her home had always been small, and her room even smaller, but after being confined to a small room in a basement where she could barely move, her house felt uncomfortable. So she decided to somewhere better. 

Chad’s house. 

She parked her car outside, and it looked shabby compared to theirs. Hers was rusting in some places, covered in dents and scratches in the paint, but theirs looked... so much better, nicer, newer. But she had no time to dwell on the fact she could never compare to what Chad had... she just needed to see him. 

She ran inside, not really wanting to wait for someone to answer the door and see her like this. It was clear she had been crying, and was close to tears again, and... everything she should’ve been feeling was starting to catch up, the numbness was fading. 

Besides, Chad said she could come over to see him any time and this was the time. 

She burst into his bedroom, immediately regretting it when she saw what he was doing. He was playing a game, and talking into his microphone. Probably his friends. 

God why did she have such bad timing?

Before she even realised, Chad had turned to her, smiling a little. 

“Hey, Alyssa... what are you doing here? Aren’t you... supposed to be in a therapy session? Is it over? Did it finish early or did I lose track of time?”

“No... I...” she hadn’t even thought about what she was going to say. God she was so stupid. “I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t... not yet, Chad I’m sorry. I know you helped pay for it but I couldn’t- I had to leave...” her breaths were getting faster and faster, but she couldn’t help it. 

“Hey, guys, I’m gonna have to go,” she heard Chad say, though it sounded distant to her, far off. The next thing she knew he was right next to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her further into his room. “Alyssa, baby, hey... deep breaths, please?”

Alyssa did as she was told as best she could, and it helped but... her breaths still felt uneven, shaky. She felt like she was on the edge of a cliff and she was about to fall off. 

“Chad, I’m so sorry, I’m so-“ her words caught in her throat, getting tangled in a knot and the only thing that came out of her mouth was a sob. 

“No... it’s okay, shhh, it’s okay.” Chad rubbed her back gently as she cried. It was okay... he wanted her to be okay and if she wasn’t ready yet, he wasn’t going to force her. 

They stayed like that for a while, but gradually moved closer to his bed, until they ended up lying down with Alyssa’s head in his chest. Still, they stayed like that... and time passed. Chad honestly thought Alyssa had fallen asleep, but soon enough she looked up at him. 

“Hey Chad?” She whispered, her voice coming out small and almost... broken. 

“Yeah Alyssa?”

“Kiss me,” she said quickly. “Kiss me on the lips, the forehead, the cheek, the nose, the hand, I just please... kiss me.”

“You know I have no problem doing all of that but... why?”

“Because I need to.. I need to...” she sighed, thinking about how to phrase this. “I just need to know this is all real and I’m not back there and... I’m okay. So please?”

“Of course...” he whispered, placing the softest kiss to her forehead, and placing one on every spot she mentioned until he kissed her hand. “Better, or should I do it again?”

“Better..” Alyssa mumbled. “Not perfect, I’m still... worried this is all in my head but... it’s better. You can kiss me whenever you want but I just... can we stay cuddling for now?”

“Yeah! I love cuddling with you, you know that.” He smiled, carefully brushing a piece of her hair out of her face so he could trace shapes on her skin delicately. 

“I do...” she nodded, leaning into him and letting out a long sigh. 

She only hoped therapy would get easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say these chapter updates won’t be fast (if anyone cares), but I aim to try and finish this story. With that said, hope you all enjoyed! <3


	2. A Diary, Instead.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Therapy didn’t work out, so Alyssa and her partners are trying to find other ways of helping without making it more difficult for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Torture, manipulation, Alyssa is drugged, use of needles. 
> 
> Please be careful.
> 
> Misa is also @wowsheshot’s character!

“Now, I know that therapy didn’t work out for you,” Chad began, sitting down across from Alyssa a few days later. “But-“

“And I am sorry about that Chad. You paid for it and I wasted your money. I... shouldn’t have.”

“Alyssa, that’s not what I was going to say. I have plenty of it, and you tried, yeah? It’s not like you completely blew it off. I was just going to say you’ve been... seeming quite down the past few days, and I don’t expect you not to be, it just hurts to see. So I was talking to Misa and Isabella and they suggested you write it in a diary. That way you’re not confessing to anyone but you’re not keeping it to yourself either.”

“A diary instead?” She nodded her head a little, eyes trailing down to her lap. “Promise me you won’t read it.”

“Alyssa, you know I wouldn’t do that.”

“I do, I know, but I just... need you to promise me that you won’t read it, okay?” She asked, sounding a little harsher than before. Everything that happened was still a sour subject for her; she couldn’t have Chad knowing about what happened before she was ready. 

“I promise I won’t read your dairy, even if it’s right in front of me and I have nothing else to do. Actually, I’d probably just... go work out instead of reading it.” 

“You work out too much,” she mumbled, before taking a small sip of her coffee. 

“I heard that,” he replied, staring at her with a small grin on his face. 

“It’s true, you do.” Alyssa puffed out her cheeks, followed by a roll out her eyes when he shook his head in disagreement. “But... seriously, I appreciate it and... if I leave it here, by accident, can you just make sure none of your sisters find it or your friends when they come over? I couldn’t deal with them finding it.” 

“Of course I will,” he offered her a small smile as she placed her now empty coffee cup down on the table. “Now, onto more important matters, Misa told me she wanted to take you shopping today to find you a diary you like, so you need to go.”

“Why today though?” She asked— or more like she complained: she did not want to go out today. “I could just go out later.”

“We’ve all seen how this is eating away at you Alyssa, and nobody wants to force you to talk about it so you need a healthy way to cope. So please just go today? You don’t have to write in your diary till you’re ready but having it is still. a good idea, don’t you think?”

“Fine. I’ll go today, but if I end up on an actual shopping trip, it’s your fault.” She said, standing up and grabbing her jacket from the door 

“You know you’d enjoy it, you love going shopping with Misa.”

“Oh, shut up,” she said, walking past him to place a peck on his cheek as she left. 

No Alyssa wasn’t feeling great today (not like she had been the few days before either), and she wasn’t exactly in the mood for a shopping trip. But she did enjoy spending time with Misa and, contrary to what the police said when they told her father about what had happened, she didn’t want to be alone. The last thing she wanted was to be isolated right now. It would just bring back that... churning feeling in her stomach, the one that made her want to throw up, and cry and faint all in one. The feeling she felt constantly for two months. 

Tying her hair back, Alyssa jumped in her car and started the engine. Immediately, the music started playing and loudly too, for that matter, but she didn’t bother to turn it down. All she did was wind the window down to add another sound to the mix, to have something else rattle around her brain other than him, and what happened. When she was in the car alone, the loud sounds was her only distraction. 

Sometimes even those didn’t work. 

———

The next few days, Alyssa did what she was asked when she was asked, didn’t argue back or ask too many questions. She just went with it. It was an attempt to try and gain his trust, make him think that she was always going to listen, so that when she tried to escape, he wouldn’t see it coming. 

She was hoping and praying he wouldn’t see it coming. 

But, on that day... or night... or afternoon when she tried it, he was more prepared than she’d thought he would be. She had pushed him away while he was unlocking her cuffs so she could change, made sure he was in a bit of brain and distracted long enough for her to make her escape. Once she had, she wasted no time, she just ran, out of the room and out of what she assumed was his basement. Her hands were on the door handle, and she pulled it back, but it was locked. She tugged and tugged, hoping and wanting so desperately to hear something break, but nothing did. There wasn’t even anything to pick the lock with. 

Goddamnit! 

Alas, she kept trying and trying, until her palms were read and her skin was definitely going to start peeling. But she couldn’t give up, no... she had to get out of here, she had to-

Before she even knew what to do, there were strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her back downstairs. How? She hadn’t even heard him follow her... maybe she was too distracted with what she was trying to do. Maybe she was too overwhelmed with everything to even think about the fact he’d followed her. 

“Come now, Alyssa,” he said, tone firm and annoyed. “You should’ve known that wouldn’t work. I’m disappointed you even tried, I really thought we were making progress.” 

“Get off of me Drew!” She screamed, hoping it was loud enough that someone, anyone would hear. “Let go of me! Let me go!” She cried out. 

There was no way of knowing if someone could hear, so Alyssa did the next best thing: she fought back. No, it wasn’t perfect but she kicked at cupboards to push him back, trip him over; she swung her legs back to try and crack his knees; tried to use her arms to punch him, pull his hair, elbow him, pry herself out of his grasp. She tried everything she could think of, all while helplessly trying out for someone to help, someone to come save her. 

Just anybody. 

Drew was too strong for her, not that it took much, and her attempts fell flat against his strength. Sure, he tumbled slightly and there would be bruising on his ribs tomorrow, but nothing actually hurt enough for him to have another chance to escape. 

With one last pull, he had her back in the room, and just before he shut the door, he grabbed a syringe from the table outside of it. He threw her to the bed, not being careful anymore. Somebody who would do that to him was not his sister, and he didn’t care about hurting her. 

“I told you if you tried anything, I’d have no regard for your safety until you learned not to do it again.” He said, taking a step closer. 

Alyssa was not having it, so, with one foot she kicked out with all her strength. Only for him to grab it, and pushed it away. 

“A feeble attempt,” he said coldly as he grabbed her face with his rough, calloused hands. “Sleep tight.” 

What? Why was he- before Alyssa had a chance to register anything else, there was a prick in her neck and a cold needle in her skin. Her eyes glazed over, and she blinked up at him a few times, her vision slowly fading out until it was gone and there was only darkness. 

—

That one memory felt like it lasted hours, like it was plaguing her endlessly, and it was of course, just not for as long as she thought. It was only around twenty minutes later when she snapped out of it, and her brain engaged fully in driving. Frankly, it was a miracle she hadn’t crashed, but maybe that was just muscle memory, a subconscious type of thing. 

A few minutes later, and she was pulling up at Misa’s front door and wiping the tears from her eyes with her other hand. They were about to go shopping and... it was going to be good, so there was no need to dampen the mood at the beginning of the day. 

Once the tears were gone, and she felt confident that the redness on her face had faded enough to not be noticed by Misa, she stepped out of the car and walked up to her front door. 

She was about to knock when unexpectedly, Misa opened the door with the brightest smile on her face. Alyssa relaxed a little seeing her, and allowed her face to twist into a small smile. Any bigger and it would’ve been forced. 

“I saw your car pull up,” she hummed, grabbing her coat from the side of the door and stepped outside with Alyssa. “I’ve been waiting for you since Chad texted me that you left his... and I’m glad you got here. I’ll admit I was a little worried you weren’t actually gonna show and you thought the diary idea was dumb.”

“What? Why would you think that?” Alyssa asked, raising an eyebrow at her. 

“I don’t know, I thought you maybe wouldn’t want to write it down anywhere and so instead of my house, you were gonna go sit alone somewhere.”

“Misa... you know that I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Actually, I have no idea what you want.”

“Misa i-“

Misa quickly cut her off, shaking her head lightly. “Sorry, that came out wrong... I didn’t mean that in a bad way of you’re not communicating enough so how am I supposed to know, I meant, like... I’ve never been through what you’ve been through. I don’t understand it, and I won’t fully understand it if you ever decide to tell us so I... have no idea what you’d want in a situation like this.”

“Oh...” Alyssa nodded her head. She understood, that made sense. “Well, I can tell you that I really do not want to be alone.”

“Okay... and I’m glad because I really wanted to go shopping with you, and just spend time with you.”

“It does actually sound really nice, even if I don’t know how well the diary thing is gonna go.”

“It makes me happy you’re willing to try at least.”

“Just... promise you won’t be mad at me if I can’t do it straight away.” Alyssa said quickly, fiddling with the keys in her hand. Lately she’d been needing a lot more reassurance and she wasn’t sure she was liking how much she needed it. 

“Alyssa, I would...” Misa seemed like she was going to say that she would never but Alyssa needed to hear her say she promised, so she shook her head to interrupt her. “Okay, I promise. I promise I won’t get angry at you for not being able to, and I never will.” 

“Okay, thanks...” she said softly, stopping once they got to her car. 

Glancing down at the keys in her hand, she bit her lip and shook her head once more. There was no way she was driving, not if she was going to half zone out again like that - she couldn’t do that with Misa in the car - so she placed them in Misa’s hand. 

“What? Why are you giving me the keys?”

“Because I kinda... zoned out on the way here, and don’t worry about why, but I don’t want to do that with you in the car.” She explained, walking around to the passenger side of the car. Even if the chance was smaller with Misa there, Alyssa still didn’t feel like taking a chance. “It’ll be safer if you drive.” 

“You zoned out?!” Misa exclaimed, not angry, just... concerned. “What do you mean you zoned out? Alyssa, I’m surprised you didn’t crash!”

“That’s why I said you’re driving. I don’t want to possibly zone out and crash with us both in the car, so please just get in and drive, we can talk about this later.” 

“Fine...” Misa sighed, climbing in Alyssa’s car. “Let’s go.” 

———

When Alyssa woke up, she wasn’t exactly sure where she was, all she knew was she was surrounded by darkness. Complete darkness. There was no sound either, just... this eerie silence where her own breathing sounded too loud for her. 

What the hell happened?

Suddenly, there was a bright, blinding light shot in her eyes and she instinctively flinched away, forcing her eyes shut to try and protect from the light. 

“I told you, Alyssa, that you are going to become my sister. You don’t have a choice in this, but you do have a choice in how easy the transition will be for you. We could’ve learned about each other gradually, but you decided to do what you did, so no more of that for you. I will drain you until you can do nothing but listen to me, and you will be my sister, whether you like it or not.”

The room must’ve been small, and Alyssa was sure the silence of everything else didn’t help, because his voice sounded... so loud. Like he was shouting, screaming even, and it was echoing around the walls, lingering for a few seconds longer than he spoke just to taunt Alyssa. 

“You will learn,” he mused as he came into view, only to plaster some duct tape over Alyssa’s mouth. “Sensory deprivation tends to do that to a person.”

With that, her eyes went wide. Sensory what?! No, no, there was no way he was going to leave her in here with nothing... he couldn’t. 

“Twelve hours at the least, we’ll see how you’re feeling then.” 

TWELVE HOURS?

Alyssa struggled, but her arms were stuck behind her back and her legs bound tightly to the chair. There would be imprints of the chair on her legs already, she knew it, and she knew her arms would only start to ache if she kept struggling. So she... stopped, hoping she’d be able to fall asleep and the twelve hours would pass faster. 

They didn’t. 

No matter how hard she tried to sleep, she... couldn’t. There was something so off putting about the eeriness of the room, of the complete and utter nothingness, and it turned her stomach upside down. That feeling made it difficult to sleep, and combine that with her racing thoughts, there was no way she was ever going to sleep. It was all too much, even if there was just nothing. 

How was that... even possible? 

Her thoughts kept going, with her senses unable to do anything, her thoughts were the only thing reminding her she was still alive, still present in the moment. But that didn’t make them pleasant. She thought about Chad, and Misa and Isabella... what they were doing, how long it was since she’d seen them, what they thought had happened to her, were they looking, did they even care-

Oh god, what if they didn’t care... no, no... they had to care, they had to be looking, right?

Time passed, slowly but surely... and eventually, she flinched when she heard a door click open, and light come flooding into the room. On instinct, she turned her head away, trying to avoid the light as much as possible. 

“Twelve hours, Alyssa. Are you ready to apologise for what you did and promise to never do it again? Ready to properly accept the fact that you’re my sister now and forever?” He asked, making his voice a little quieter as he approached, and peeled of her duct tape. 

“I...” she trailed off, her own voice failing her. She had no words, nothing to say, her brain felt... fried. 

A harsh feeling brought her back to reality, a stinging across her cheek. 

“Answer me, Alyssa! Are you ready to or not?” He was yelling now, and it overwhelmed Alyssa. 

After so long with silence, yelling felt like it would burst her ear drums. She needed him to stop, she needed him to whisper again and be gentle, she couldn’t listen to this. 

“I’m sorry!” She burst out, silencing him. “I’m sorry that I tried that, but I just- I really want to leave and I can’t promise I won’t do it again, but I’m sorry. I didn’t—“

She was cut off by another slap against her other cheek, harder and more powerful this time. Drew grabbed her face after it, and she winced at how his fingers felt against her burning cheeks. 

“If you still can’t promise me you won’t do it again, you haven’t been in here long enough,” he said, spitting in her face. 

He dropped his hand, and drew his face away, so Alyssa opened her eyes, assuming he was just going to leave her again. But at least he wasn’t too close to her anymore. 

She couldn’t even protest before he pressed the duct tape back to her lips, and turned slightly. Alyssa wondered why he hadn’t just left her straight away, but that thought wasn’t allowed to wonder very long. Turning to her, rage burned in his eyes, and he lost his patience. Drew punched her. He hit the nose first, but he didn’t stop, he kept going and going, punching her face anywhere he could. Then he moved into her stomach, winding her, and never allowing her to catch her breath until he finished. 

When he was finished, Alyssa was already aching, and, shit, would there be bruises tomorrow. She couldn’t even gasp for breath through her mouth, and she was struggling to past the blood rushing from her nose. Was she... even going to be able to catch her breath? 

For about a minute or two more, she struggled until her breathing finally felt normal again, or comfortable enough that she wasn’t worried she’d suffocate. Gazing down, she let her tears fall, not even caring if he was still in the room anymore. There was pain everywhere, there were her own thoughts racing, she just... couldn’t keep it in anymore. It was too much, she wanted it to end, she wanted to go home and she couldn’t. So the tears... just kept falling. 

Another few minutes passed, and Alyssa was still crying. Honestly, if her mouth hadn’t been taped shut, they would’ve turned into loud, wailing, agonising sobs by now. Alyssa leaned back in her chair, uncomfortable in the position she’d just been in, and once Drew caught a view of her face, he nodded. Like he was satisfied with what he did, like this was the desired effect he wanted when he decided what he was going to do to her. 

Only then did he take a few steps back towards the door and close it over again. “See you in another twelve hours.” He said from the outside. 

Alyssa wasn’t quite sure if she was relieved he’d left. Him leaving her meant he couldn’t physically hurt her anymore, he couldn’t touch her anymore, but now she was alone with her thoughts and her tears. They weren’t a good combination, and neither was the fact she was already growing tired from her lack of actual sleep, and she had to last another twelve hours. 

———

“Alyssa, hello?” A voice said... sounding familiar but distant. “Are you listening, or did you zone out again?”

Oh. It was Misa. 

“Sorry, Misa... I zoned out again.” She mumbled, sitting up in her seat and clearing her throat. “I didn’t meant to, it’s just been a rough day today.”

“No, I understand... and it’s okay, really. But do you wanna talk about why you’re having a rough day? I know the last few days haven’t been great but today you seem worse.”

“I am worse, but no, I do not wanna talk about it. Or about anything related to it for that matter,” she said, turning to look out the window for a moment while she composed a fake smile. 

“Then we don’t have to, I was just reaching out.”

“I know,” Alyssa mumbled, turning back to her. “But anyway, I have a bunch of cds in the car, so I’m gonna pick one go play until we get to the mall.”

“No need,” Misa said, sounding slightly happier than before. 

“Hm, what? Why?” Alyssa poked her head back up, hand still rummaging through the compartment in the middle of the seats that was filled with cds. 

“We’re here!” Misa said, looking hopefully down at Alyssa. Hopeful this would cheer her up.

“Oh.” Alyssa sat back in her seat, looking around as Misa pulled into a parking space. “Guess we are.”

“Now,” Misa hummed, turning to Alyssa as she took her hand. She placed a gentle kiss on it, something they’d all been doing a lot more recently once Alyssa told them physically affection helped a lot reminding her it was real, and she was with them. “Let’s go shopping.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! <3.


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